The best time to visit Taiwan

“Last April, my wife, Liv, and I took our firstborn, Lyla, from Los Angeles to Taiwan to meet Liv's entire family, which was a really big deal because family is such an important part of Taiwanese culture. Six or seven of Liv's closest relatives brought us to the Shilin Night Market in Taipei, and you know how Asian night markets can get kind of insane. Lyla had this stink face the entire time because she wasn't used to the humidity and the noise and the smells. She was just like, What the hell is this place? But that's the energy of Taiwan: all that commerce, the mom-and-pop shops, the food stalls feeding millions of people every day. My mother-in-law loves bringing us to a stall that does fermented tofu—grilled with all sorts of sauces from spicy to sweet. You can tell the stall is near when you smell that pungent scent permeating the air. It's phenomenal, walking through those night markets. That's Asia to me, those aromas and the loud bustle. As for Lyla, once we got her some fruit, she warmed up to it all. Just take her to a watermelon stall and you've got her. We've traveled a tremendous amount with her since she was a baby, but every stage of traveling with kids as they grow up is totally different. Liv and I have another newborn now, so hopefully we can keep up the trend of showing our girls the world. Taiwan is such a strong cultural reference point for Liv, having grown up there, that we want to pass it on to our kids. It's one of those places that's always going to evolve as time goes on. There will be changes in its future, but that's what Taiwan has endured for ages. Each time we visit, it will have changed, and our family will have changed with it.” —as told to Matt Ortile

When it comes to food, London's West End district in the city center doesn’t have the best rap. Many locals will say that you need to venture out of zone one to eat some authentic cuisine. I disagree.

Over four decades, the costume designer Colleen Atwood has enjoyed an incredible career, working on films like Chicago, Little Women (1994), The Silence of the Lambs, and Edward Scissorhands and winning four Academy Awards. Her considerable workload—in 2023, she worked on the live-action The Little Mermaid as well as Netflix’s new drama Pain Hustlers, streaming now—doesn’t allow for a whole lot of leisure travel. “I’m embarrassed,” she says of her lack of experience in this realm. “I’m a traveler, but not a vacationer.”

At 27 years old, I completed my wanderlust dream of traveling to every country in the world as a solo female traveler. To be exact, I've visited all 193 sovereign nations — plus Taiwan, Kosovo, and Palestine. Then, by the age of 30, I achieved my athletic dream of becoming an Ironman. I find great fulfillment in inspiring and educating young women to get out and pursue their passions — or whatever gets them excited in life.  

A lone boatman watches Thailand's so-called "floating train" pass as selfie-seeking passengers soak up the water views, disembarking from carriages stopped on a narrow bridge.

November can be one of the better months to travel, depending on when you do it. Traveling in November means you miss the summer crowds and rush of students settling into their campuses, plus the chaos of travelers before the end-of-year holiday season. Here are some of the top places to visit in November.

Ecuador’s Oyacachi has been recognised as one of the Best Tourism Villages of 2023, according to The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). This global initiative sees Ecuador’s villages leading the way in the preservation of cultures and traditions, celebration of diversity, creation of opportunities and protection of wildlife, through tourism as a positive force for transformation, rural development and the well-being of communities. This award follows Ecuador’s success in 2022, where Aguarico and Angochagua received the same accolade.

The No 50 Purbeck Breezer travels regularly between Swanage and Bournemouth past the beautiful beaches of Studland Bay. Behind Knoll Beach there’s a heathland nature reserve with a lagoon and a giant natural sand pit. In Poole we visited the Japanese garden at Compton Acres and the historic harbour. From a child’s perspective, the best thing about the No 50 is that it goes on a boat: the chain ferry that plies the harbour mouth between Studland and Sandbanks. The return trip at sunset on the open upper deck made us laugh out loud: it was like being on a rollercoaster. Jenny Lunnon

Costa Rica’s epic landscapes make it prime road-trip territory, from its wild Pacific coastline to the relaxed vibe of its Caribbean beaches, lush wildlife-filled forests, and still-smoldering volcanoes.

Taiwan is a breeze to visit, with easy-to-navigate transport systems, handy convenience stores at every turn, and endless restaurants that just hit the spot. 

While accepting one of the many Oscars he received for the film Parasite at the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020, South Korean director Bong Joon Ho advised that Americans would do well to “overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles” in order to discover an even broader swatch of amazing films than already available at our fingertips. Indeed, subtitles are nothing to be afraid of—but that doesn’t mean the movies they caption can’t be scary themselves. Amongst our editorial staff, in fact, there’s a consensus that foreign horror productions are actually much more terrifying than those produced stateside—bolder, bloodier, darkly funnier, and more haunting for their willingness to leave questions unanswered.

All cities and the majority of tourist sites in Taiwan are connected by a web of safe, efficient and affordable transport.